Hi guys. It’s me again, Al Nguyen from the first ever Synthetic Chemistry program. In this blog, I’ll cover my eventful (and stressful) day and my thoughts about my SSP journey so far.
Lately I’ve been skipping breakfast for more sleep so there’s no donut pictures for today. In the morning, us participants finished our last day in lab by doing our last characterizations of the metal complex we synthesized. It was not initially planned but our dear faculties allowed us to test our complexes’ function: organic dye purification. I’m glad that one of my complexes worked pretty well.
Heading to lab
Right after lab, everyone rushed to the bus for our last field trip. The bus ride was chill. Everyone enjoyed their packed lunch and fell asleep. Those who didn’t sleep (including me) on the other hand took some cool pictures of our friends((: Unlike on the first bus that we took to SWOSU (host of the program), there was a lot of chit chat on the bus instead of dead silence. That just shows how much bonding we’ve made during SSP (not the weak pi bonds but the SIGMA ones).
Mario mewing while sleeping
We were visiting the OU Health Physicians and OMRF the labs. Their facilities were so nice. I got some inspiration to study biology in the future thanks to their talks about cancer research, career path, and their love for science.
Liquid nitrogen looks like heaven
It was a rush. We quickly went back to the bus to get back for dinner. On the bus Ms. Dunn (our site director) surprised us by handing out boba tea. It was truly a blessing on a hot day far from home. My best friend (Super) Mario and I goofed around and talked philosophy for the entire bus ride.
After dinner and the evening lecture, everyone was so exhausted, but Dr. Ellis woke us up by making us nitrogen banana ice cream and dippin’ dots live. He added banana scent, which we encountered in class before, to the ice cream as well. After that he took us on a magic tour. He let us turn copper pennies into GOLD!!!
Dr. Ellis making ice cream in class
Cu + Dr. Ellis’ Magic —> Au
With the rebooted energy, my Allylcorn group and I locked in for our research paper. The work was exhausting but we pushed through. (Because Mario was on his phone so much Isabelle had to take it away from him.) We did joke around but we had a good amount of work done too. I’m so proud of us.
The Allycorns only have two emotions: joy and locked in
Such a typical busy day at SSP. The program is coming to an end, and us all feel sad about that. SSP is a transformative experience that does not only open me up to conducting science research but also allows me to meet interesting like-minded peers. I made so many memories with these people through ramen nights, anime nights, nerds, BANG!, and all kinds of activities. The ride SSP gives me surely makes me grow a lot as a scientist and an individual.
Thank you for reading this blog. Now I have to sleep to get ready for another busy day tomorrow. Bye.